As Death Rattles My Cage
by DymphiStiles
Summary: Part 2. When Jones loses the operational control over Alex, he gets sent on a dangerous mission by people who might not be who they say they are. Read the Terrorist Game first, it works as a prequel. Sequel is Road to Recovery.
1. Chapter 1

The face staring back in the mirror seemed to belong to another person. Alex swiped some of his blonde locks out of his face. He really needed to get a haircut. The scar on the left of his face had become a thin, white line. Occasionally, he caught people staring at it. The dynamics at school had changed significantly. Only his class knew what had really happened to him. So, the regular mill of rumours still circled, though Alex knew most kids had moved on from the rumours entirely. His classmates sometimes whispered about him. But they no longer mocked him or challenged him. In fact, most treated him with respect and a sort of reverence.

Alex still enjoyed the normalcy of school. Since that last mission, he'd been able to stay in school for four whole months. He'd even started prepping for finals and he finally felt confident that he would pass at least some of his GCSE's. A couple more months and school would be over.

The familiar sound of Jack making coffee brought Alex's thoughts back to the present. He straightened the tie on his school uniform and grabbed his bag, quickly stuffing last night's homework inside. When he came down the stairs, he looked at the familiar scene. Jack, slightly sipping her coffee. And Wolf, reading the newspaper.

Somehow, in the weeks that Wolf was assigned protection duty, he got past the craziness of the American and started to see the woman behind the guardian. And he had decided he liked that woman. Wolf had consulted with Alex before making a move. Alex would always be his priority, and he did care a lot about what the youngster had to say. Wolf had been surprised when Alex had grinned when he told him he liked her and had quickly given his blessing.

And so, Jack and Wolf were slowly exploring a relationship while handling living together and caring for a teenage spy. Not exactly white picket fence stuff, but everyone in the house was having a good time.

Occasionally, Wolf or Jack caught Alex sulking around. The scar on his face really bothered him sometimes. All his scars shook his self-image, but his face was the worst. And like every teenage boy, Alex had his insecurities. Jack or Wolf would take the teen out for a ride or call Tom to come hang out. That usually fixed things. Alex had always been more serious than his classmates. He was focused on his studies. He still went to weekly martial arts classes and had a tutor for Arabic, a language he intended to master before leaving school. At school Alex is part of the football team. He spends most of his time on the bench because of all his absences but occasionally he gets to play a game or 2. He quite enjoys being with his friends. Tom always had his back, and now Alex was building his old friendships up again. Life felt pretty sweet.

Alex almost hit himself in the head for thinking that. Life felt pretty sweet? Great, now he knew something was going to change. He had to jinx it, hadn't he?

"Morning, Alex. How do you feel about your test today?" Jack asked.

Alex mentally shook his thoughts away and answered: "Pretty good. You know Spanish is one of my better languages. I'm fairly certain I'll ace it," he grinned.

Jack turned her head to Wolf, who gave no indication that he was listening to the conversation. Jack coughed once. Wolf ruffled his paper and, without looking up from it, asked Alex:

"_De que trata la prueba?"_ (What's the test about?)

"_Tengo que hablar sobre la Guerra Civil Española."_ (I have to talk about the Spanish Civil War)

Wolf put down his paper and looked at Alex, who was tugging on his jacket.

"_Phew, eso no es fácil. ¿Y que vas a decir?" _(Phew, that's not easy. And what are you going to say?)

"_Ah pues, voy a hablar sobre el inicio de la guerra y los partidos. También quiero mencionar unas personas distintas de la Guerra. Ya no sé quiénes serán, espero llegar a esas personas antes de mi presentación." _(I'll talk about the start of the war and the parties involved. I'll also mention some distinctive figure from the war. I'm not sure yet who, I hope I'll have some people before my presentation.)

"_¿Personas distintas, dices? Pues, había muchas artistas quienes eran importante por la guerra. Pienso a Pío Baroja y Federico García Lorca. ¿Los conoces?" _(Distinctive people, you say? Well, many artists were important during the war. I'm thinking of Pío Baroja and Federico Garcia Lorca. Do you know of them?)

"_Si! ¡Eso puedo usar! Gracias, Wolf." _(Yes! I can use that! Thanks, Wolf.)

Jack was smiling. She'd understood some words here and there and was feeling very proud right now.

"Thank god I had the good sense to follow Spanish in high school. At least I know you two will never be able to keep secrets from me in Spanish," she said. It wasn't true. She'd barely been able to follow parts of the conversation, so they could definitely keep secrets from her and talk about them in Spanish.

Alex snorted. He knew it too. He finished tying his shoes.

"Ready to go?" he asked Wolf. The man nodded, folding the paper and putting it back on the table. He gave Jack a quick kiss and grabbed his jacket on the way out.

"Do you have the keys, Alex?"

Alex held up his right hand, keys dangling from one of his fingers, in response.

"Alright." Wolf walked out the door, following Alex. He turned around to blow a kiss back to Jack. And then he heard the noise.

He whipped himself around and… caught the keys right on time. They would have hit him straight in the back of his head had he not heard them flying through the air. He turned murderous eyes to Alex, who was looking at him innocently. Before he could open his mouth, the youngster said:

"Just keeping you on your toes, Wolf. Wouldn't want you to start feeling old, you know, what with all this domestication."

He winked at the SAS soldier and jumped in the front seat of the car. Wolf grumbled something under his breath before getting behind the wheel. He still had murder in his eyes when he turned to the teenage spy sitting next to him. He pointed his finger at Alex.

"I am not old. I am not getting old. In fact, I'd even go as far as calling myself a young man."

Alex gave him his signature smile, with mischief in his eyes.

"Is that a grey hair I'm seeing there?" Alex asked, purposely shifting his eyes to Wolf's head. Wolf didn't have long hair, but he'd been letting it grow a bit since he wasn't really on active duty.

Wolf's eyes widened a bit, before he narrowed them at Alex.

"I won't dignify that with a response. Let's get you to school, you bloody bastard."

This made Alex laugh. Wolf always felt a little proud when he was the source of Alex' laughter. It was rare that Alex truly enjoyed himself, letting go of the burdens placed on his shoulders.

The pair of them quickly made their way to Brookland Comprehensive, Alex' school. Wolf spent his days hanging around the school. Alex had even suggested he become a PE teacher, just to have something to do while he was babysitting Alex. But Wolf had shrugged him off, saying that would distract him.

There was no immediate threat against Alex' life, but MI6 had felt the need to protect him better. Alex was fine with it, because he got along well with Wolf now. It hadn't always been that way, but the pair of them had come to a mutual respect. Of course, living together had helped their relationship a lot.

"Have a nice day," Wolf said as Alex stepped out the car.

It had become routine. Wolf no longer wore his army slacks now, he was just in regular clothing. To most people, the basic truth was the whole truth: Wolf was dating Jack, Alex' guardian, and now functioned a bit as a dad/older brother for Alex. It was lesser known that Wolf was in the army, though some students did recall seeing him in uniform sometimes. Only one person knew the full truth of who Wolf was. And that person was just rolling into school on his skateboard.

"Alex!" Tom waved. He zigzagged through a crowd of younger students, who quickly fled to get away from the speeding maniac. Alex jogged towards Tom.

"Hey! How's it going?" he asked his friend. They bumped fists.

"You know… same shite as always." Tom said. His parents had gotten a divorce a year earlier, and Tom now lived alone with his mum. His dad still had his temper, but it had lessened now that he was no longer in a toxic relationship with Tom's mum. And she was always crying. Tom was basically taking care of himself, eating at Alex' house as often as possible. Jerry checked in with him regularly, and Tom was going to spend summer break in Italy with his brother. He couldn't wait for it to be summer.

Alex gave a sympathetic smile. The two boys trudged into the school together. They were soon greeted by the familiar sounds of the playground chaos. They moved to their vast spot, waiting for first period to start. A couple of the guys from the football team were already there, kicking a football around. Soon after Tom and Alex sat down, the morning signal went for first period.

Grudgingly, Tom and Alex joined their classmates, James picking up the rear end.

"Hey, did you guys hear?" he asked, popping his head between Tom and Alex', casually leaning on their shoulders as they waited in line.

"Hear what?" Tom asked.

"Apparently, our annual field trip is to one of them tropical swimming pools this year! It's going to be wicked, man!" James smiled.

Tom gave him a reluctant smile back. When James had left their side, Tom turned to Alex.

"Are you… are you going to go? On the field trip, I mean?" he asked Alex.

Alex stared ahead.

"I don't think so. It's bad enough people see a scar on my face. I don't think anyone wants to see the rest of me."

"Alex…"

"Forget about it. I'll just use the field trip day to catch up on some homework," he lied. Tom slapped his mate on the back.

"Hey, we'll go do something together that doesn't involve the entire school talking about you. What do you say?"

Alex saw the mischief in Tom's grin and had never felt more grateful for this friendship than right this second. Maybe this day wouldn't be so bad after all.


	2. Chapter 2

What a bloody mistake. He'd jinxed it again. Alex cursed himself silently while he waited in the Royal & General. They called him during lunch and even went as far as to tell him to skip the rest of the day and come straight to their office. Wolf had looked murderous when Alex told him, but there was nothing the soldier could do.

"Mr Rider? Mrs Jones will see you now," Mrs Jones' assistant Leila said.

"Thanks, Leila," Alex replied before stepping into the office.

After shutting the door, he immediately came to the point.

"I thought we had an agreement that you would never pull me out of school?" he said venomously.

Mrs Jones was standing by the window, her back turned to him. He heard an audible sigh from her. It threw him off. She never showed him her emotions or frustrations, but it was obvious that she wasn't happy either.

"This doesn't come from me, Alex. It's from higher up. I'm sorry."

Higher up? There weren't many people higher up the ladder than the head of intelligence.

"What's going on?" he asked. She was never this honest or open with him.

"Sit down, Alex." She gestured to the seat in front of her desk. Alex warily did as told.

She hesitated by the window, before pulling out her desk chair and sitting down in front of Alex.

"After your last mission, there have been some whispers in the parliament. About you, us, the entire intelligence unit. It was to be expected, of course. Don't worry, not many people know your true identity. But many people know enough. Opinions have been very divided about what to do with you."

"What do you mean, what to do with me?"

"Some say you should be excluded from intelligence all together, let you stay in school and forget about everything that happened. Frankly, I think those people are idiots."

While it had been something that Alex had wanted a couple of years ago, he no longer wished to be normal. He would miss the action too much, and he would feel responsible if something bad happened that he could have prevented. So, he sided with Jones on that one. Besides, how could anyone expect him to simply forget? It was ridiculous and, like Jones had said, idiotic. So he nodded.

"Others wanted to lock you away. They didn't outright say 'kill', I mean you are still a teenager after all, but their intentions weren't good. They were afraid you were a liability, or could become one, with all the secrets you know."

She didn't say they were idiots. Alex knew it was the truth. If he wanted to, he could have the power to bring a lot of damage.

"But I don't think you would ever abuse your power, seeing as others have abused their power to get to you. Myself included. Am I wrong?"

Alex was shocked by her honesty. He shook his head, acknowledging the truth.

"I told them about our arrangement and that it was working fine for both parties. Unfortunately, not many people seemed to agree with me. There was a vote."

Alex was glued to his chair. A vote in parliament, about him? What the fuck?

"The decision has been made that, with our current arrangement, you have too much freedom. The freedom to decide whether or not you take a mission has been stripped. So has the hierarchy."

Alex had question marks in his eyes. His brain was turning like crazy. The implications of this were uncertain, but Alex knew instantly that everything was changing.

"See, when they decided this, I didn't believe much would change. I'm still head of MI6, so I still decide when and where to use you. At least that's what I thought. It wouldn't have changed much between us. I know you need your rest and you wish to finish school. I respect your choices and I never wanted to force you to take a job, ever again.

That will change now. The ministry has assigned an independent handler for you. They say independent, but he's basically a spy for the ministry in my office."

Alex started to grasp what she was saying. He could see the anger in her eyes, not just for him but for this entire arrangement. It would mean that a lot more people would be privy to intelligence than she wanted there to be.

"So… what exactly does this mean for me?" Alex asked. He already knew, but he needed her to say the words.

"It means that you will get a lot more assignments, that are a lot riskier. Assignments that I'd have trouble sending my best agents for. We dug our own grave with this one. By keeping you one of the best kept secrets, more people are now willing to wield that secret. To use and frankly, abuse, our secret. We have no legal standing to say no, not without implicating ourselves. If we lose the power we have, it will be the downfall of this country."

Alex nodded slowly. He understood. He'd never particularly liked MI6, but he knew that if anyone took Jones' power away, that the country would crumble. If MI6 came under review, MI5 would be scrutinized similarly. Every military agency would be picked apart. Every department would feel it.

"I am so, so sorry Alex. I never meant for this happen. I wish those idiots who wanted to keep you in school had won the vote. It would mean a better night sleep for me. But it is what it is. Do you understand?"

Alex looked her in the eyes, and all he saw was how incredibly sorry she was. He knew then and there that she would always be on his side. She would always fight for him. Yes, she had used him. But as soon as she had the power, she made sure he was paid for his services and that he got counselling. She let him rest between missions, and he knew that if he had ever wanted to turn down a mission, she would have let him. It had never been an issue, but Alex knew that she would have.

Now, he couldn't do that anymore. He felt the control over his life slipping.

"What about when I turn eighteen? It's not that far away?"

Mrs Jones gave him a pitying look.

"Alex, that's almost two years away. How about we cross that bridge when we get there?" she said softly.

She didn't think he would live that long.

That much was obvious to Alex.

"We will", he said with force. Mrs Jones looked a bit taken aback, but recovered quickly, nodding to Alex.

"Then that will be all. I'll be in touch once I know who your handler will be."

Alex nodded. He picked up his schoolbag and trotted to the door.

He didn't see the water that welled up in her eyes at the sight of the sixteen-year-old in his school uniform with his schoolbag, once again forced to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders, leaving her office with his head held high. More than ever she wished she could go back in time and stop her predecessor from ever using the boy.

Alex nodded at Leila after leaving Jones' office. His face was blanc. He didn't show the anger and dread he was feeling. Downstairs, Wolf was waiting for him by the car.

"What did she have to say?" he asked. The teen simply shook his head, indicating that he didn't want to talk about it.

"That bad, huh? What, they sending you to the middle east again?"

"No. They're not sending me anywhere, not yet. Look, I'll explain everything at home, all right. I'll meet you there."

"What do you mean you'll meet me there? I'm driving you!"

Alex shook his head.

"Wait outside a second."

He'd already taken his tie off. He dove in the back of the car. Wolf saw him change into his gym clothes. Alex left his uniform and his backpack in the back of the car.

"I'll keep my phone on me. I just… I need some space. I need to clear my head. I'll run home. I'll meet you there."

"Straight home?"

Wolf was unsure.

The teen sighed.

"Look, Wolf, it's only 5 miles. I'll probably run a bit more than that. I just really need to run."

Wolf nodded, understanding the feeling of being trapped.

"Alright, Alex. I'll see you at home. Keep your GPS on," he said, pointing to Alex' phone.

Alex nodded, before plugging in his earbuds and starting his run.

His feet hit the pavement with a lot of power. His anger pulsed through his veins as he let out all of the frustrations that he just felt during the conversation with Jones. The uncertainty and lack of control over his future drove him to run faster and harder. Once again, people he didn't know had taken away his control and his future. Once again, they felt justified in doing so. Alex pushed and pushed and pushed, until his legs were burning, his longs couldn't circulate the air properly and his head started getting dizzy. Only then did he slow down to a more comfortable jog. He still wanted to scream, but he kept it in.

Wolf heard the door slam as Alex came home.

"Had a good run?" he asked. He'd seen the anger in Alex's face, no matter how hard the teen had tried to hide it. Something was going on, but he knew that Alex needed some space first. It's why he'd allowed the unprotected run, though he'd kept tabs on him through GPS the entire time. The kid had run incredibly fast at some point. Wolf was sure if he'd kept it up, he would've collapsed. Luckily after a while, Alex had slowed down and continued on a more even pace.

"Yeah. I'm getting in the shower, first. Is Jack home?" Alex asked as he popped his head into the living area.

"No, she's still at work. She's picking up dinner, though. Indian."

"Sounds good."

Alex quickly took the stairs up to his room and jumped in the shower.


	3. Chapter 3

"So, what does this mean exactly?" Jack asked.

Jack, Wolf and Alex were sitting around the dinner table, the leftovers pushed aside. Alex just explained what Jones had told him in her office.

Wolf was one step ahead of Jack. He noticed the implications of what Alex was saying.

"It means MI6 has lost control over Alex. Right?" he asks, looking at Alex for confirmation. The teenager nodded his head.

Wolf put his hand over Jack's hands on the table. She looked scared.

"Yes," Alex said. "I'm getting a handler, who works directly for parliament. I'm not sure yet how severe their influence will be. I guess it all depends on this handler."

"When will you meet the guy?" Wolf asked.

Alex shrugged.

"Jones will call when she knows who it is."

Wolf sat back.

"Wait, Jones doesn't even know?"

Alex shook his head.

"She was pretty pissed off, to be honest."

"I can imagine. She must've been completely blindsided. I knew there was some trouble surrounding that video, but I never saw this type of backlash coming. Honestly, I thought she'd be fired," Wolf said honestly.

"Wait, you knew?" Alex asked.

"Come on, Alex. The world sees a teenager being tortured and is told he's part of British Intelligence. And you thought there wouldn't be any backlash? Truth is, she's lucky you've done some work for foreign intelligence services as well. Because otherwise they would've all been calling for your head, and hers."

Alex had to admit that he'd expected some backlash. But it had been months since that video, so he hadn't seen it coming now.

"I still don't get it. What does this concretely mean for Alex?" Jack interrupted.

Wolf looked at Alex and nodded his head.

Alex sighed. "The ministry gets full control of what assignments I do. Of course, it's still a limited number of people since most of these assignments are top secret. But they'll have the authority to make me do anything. They've also curbed my freedom to say no. They call, I go in."

The three of them let it sink in for a bit.

"Fuck!" Jack yelled, letting the frustrations out.

"Yeah," Wolf replied, looking sullen. He was torn between the side of him that was a soldier and would always follow orders, and the side that had started to love the life he'd created here with Jack and Alex.

"Alright." Alex stood up. "I've got homework so… better get started."

Before he left the kitchen, he took a quick glance back. He shouldn't have done that. Jack was suddenly crying, clenching Wolf's hands in hers. He was shuffling closer to her. His eyes met Alex's. They were full of worry and sorrow, like Jack's. It's like they both understood that this could be Alex' death sentence. The sixteen-year-old swallowed whatever he still wanted to say and went up to his room.

He opened a textbook on his desk but couldn't seem to focus on the task at hand. There were too many thoughts rolling around in his head. He ended up simply slipping under the covers in his bed, listening to the soft sounds of rain on his window.

The next few days, Alex tried to pay attention to class. He knew that at any given moment, he could be pulled away and sent overseas, for who knows how long. His main focus was to learn as much as possible, so he wouldn't have too much to catch up on. Tom knew something was going on, but Alex refused to say anything. He didn't want to talk about it. Partly because that made it less real. Jack was looking up laws that could protect Alex, but she'd soon realized that Alex's situation was beyond the law. Their hands were tied.

Alex played the perfect teenager. He made sure to be no trouble for Jack and Wolf, he made his teachers happy by handing in almost perfect assignments. He showed up for every training session of football and MMA. His week was filled with activities and studies. He didn't allow himself to stop for a second and think. He didn't want to. As soon as he stopped doing things, he would start thinking about his future. And that one was bleak.

A little over a week after his conversation with Jones, on a Thursday afternoon, he got a phone call.

"Jones?"

"Alex. You've been given a handler. He's at HQ right now, so I suggest you come over as soon as possible."

"With as soon as possible, do you mean immediately after school, or right now?" Alex was being sarcastic. He knew exactly what she meant. He just couldn't shake the old habit of going in against orders.

He heard Jones sigh.

"Now, please, Alex. It's important."

She hung up on him. In five minutes, class would start again. Alex looked over at Tom, who was standing a bit further away.

"Tom," Alex called. Tom walked over to his best mate.

"Hey, what's going on?"

"It's '6. I uhm… I have to go."

Tom eyed him suspiciously.

"I thought they didn't call during school hours? Wasn't that part of the agreement?"

Alex couldn't look his best friend in the eyes and lie to him.

"The agreement has been terminated. There's a new one in place. Look, I don't have time to explain it now. But I have to go. I don't know when I'll be back."

Tom looked concerned. Alex had trouble looking at him at all.

"Alright. Just… be safe, okay?" Tom hugged Alex. He'd seen the dread in Alex's eyes. Whatever it was that was happening, he would wait until his friend wanted to tell him what was going on.

Alex felt he had a nervous tick as he waited in the same place he'd sat a week ago. His fingers were drumming on his knees. Leila gave him a sympathetic smile.

"Are you okay, Alex?"

She'd seen him come into this office with injuries, with anger, with annoyance… She'd never seen him be nervous before. It almost frightened her. Her level of clearance was high, but not high enough to know everything about him. She just knew that he occasionally wore a school uniform when he showed up, like now. That told her enough.

"Hmm?" Alex had been a bit stuck in his own world. "Er.. yes, I'm fine. Thanks", he said. He gave her a quick smile to put her more at ease. She seemed instantly more relaxed. It was insane how much he could influence people's moods around him. Too bad it didn't always work.

It was a few more minutes before Leila gave the signal that he could go inside.

"Alex, take a seat, please," Mrs Jones said as he entered. A man was sitting in one of the chairs in front of her desk. He didn't turn around as Alex entered the room. Alex' eyes slid over the man, taking in his stiff posture, polished suit and neat haircut. This man was not military. He could've been Intelligence, but Alex knew he wasn't. This was his handler. Someone parliament had sent to take control over his life. He instantly disliked him. It was not just the fact that this man would decide so many things about his life, there was more to it. The way he was dressed, the way he sat. The fact that he didn't even turn to look at Alex and introduce himself, as if Alex was so far beneath him. He had a bad feeling about this handler.

"Alex, this is Mr. Pemberton. He will be your liaison from parliament. Mr. Pemberton, meet Alex Rider."

The disdain in her voice was clear to Alex, though he wasn't sure whether Mr. Pemberton could distinguish it as well. Pemberton finally turned to Alex. He had these piercing blue eyes. His dark brown hair was slicked back neatly. Everything about him screamed posh. He shot Alex a venomous look, telling Alex that this man would not put his best interest first.

"Mr. Rider," he said, with a nod of his head. Nothing else. Just Alex's name. Once again, no handshake or any kind of introduction. So Alex didn't reply. He simply stared at him for a second before turning back to Jones. From the corner of his vision, he could see that Pemberton's jaw clenched. It almost made Alex smile, knowing he'd pissed the man of straight away.

"Right," Jones said. "Mr. Pemberton will from now on always be present when we meet, Alex."

'Ah,' Alex thought, 'this is what annoyed her so much. Not his handler, but the fact that he will spy on her private conversations.'

"As I have explained to you previously, he also has the authority to assign you new missions. As is my understanding, he already has one ready for you. Mr Pemberton?"

The slick government official retrieved a file from his briefcase and handed it over to Alex, who grudgingly took it. The letters TOP SECRET where sprawled on top of it. That was nothing new, pretty much every file he'd ever gotten had those letters on top.

He opened the file, quickly scanning the details of the job.

"What is this?" he asked incredulously.

"Your mission," Mr. Pemberton said.

"This is… what the fuck?" Alex looked at Mrs Jones, who signalled for him to hand over the file. It was obvious that she hadn't been consulted on this mission, and had no idea what the mission was.

She took the file and quickly read through the mission. Her eyes flitted to Alex for a second, before she continued reading.

"What seems to be the problem?" Mr Pemberton asked.

"You can't be serious?" Alex asked. "This mission, as you call it, involves using people I know. People who already know that I'm a spy. Civilians!" Alex spat out, as Mr Pemberton remained impassive.

Mrs. Jones turned to Mr. Pemberton.

"Alex is right. This mission involves the possible endangerment of minors. We cannot allow that."

Mr. Pemberton's mouth ticked up in a smile before returning to his stoic expression. Alex knew that he was taking pleasure in the fact that he had the authority to overrule Jones. And he also realized that this man would take every opportunity to do so. He had a feeling this was personal.

"Actually, we can. We have evaluated the situation and realized the benefits far outweighed the possible detriments."

Alex had not yet liked one word that came out of this man's mouth.

"Possible detriments?" Alex exclaimed. "What, like one of my classmates dying?"

"Mr. Rider, competent as you are, I am certain that nothing of the like will happen. You should be happy. Your first assignment under this new ruling is quite easy. You get to stay in school, you get to keep your name and appearance. And it's not like you've never done anything like this before. As I recall, this wouldn't be the first class trip where you disappeared to investigate something for your employers."

Alex knew exactly what he was referring to. He glanced quickly at the scar on his hand, the one he obtained all those years ago in the greenhouse.

"Exactly. It was supposed to be an in and out job, but it turned out completely different. Things never go as planned when I'm on missions. This mission already deliberately puts my classmates at risk. The chances of the mission going south are high. I can't focus on a mission if I'm concerned about other people's wellbeing!" Alex spat out.

Mrs. Jones was still reading over the mission file.

"This says that Alex is mainly supposed to observe and retrieve data from the building next door to the waterpark. While I have no doubts that Alex will be able to slip away from the supervision of his teachers, I don't understand why you would choose him to do this? This is something any agent could do."

Mr. Pemberton shifted his gaze from the seething teenager to Mrs. Jones.

"For the same reason that you have continued to employ Mr. Rider. We don't want them to know that we were there. A lost schoolboy won't attract as much attention as an adult walking around in a restricted area. We believe that this laboratory hides something else. MI5 has sent in more than one agent, but none of them were able to get close enough to find out what. This is why we needed to change strategies. MI5 was unable to complete the mission."

Mrs. Jones looked at the file one more time. Truth was, Alex had indeed done a mission similar to this one. His classmates hadn't suffered for it. With this mission, they'd be safe playing in a pool, while Alex could slip away and investigate the lab. It sounded exactly like the type of mission she'd sign off on. She just didn't like that she was forced to sign off on it.

Alex didn't have the same opinion.

"I wasn't planning on going on this trip," he said.

"Well," Mr. Pemberton replied, "now you are. Most teenagers would love to go to a pool with their schoolmates. Why wouldn't you want to go?"

Alex shut his mouth. No way was he going to express his insecurities over his scars to this man. Jones looked at him with understanding, but her mind was also made up.

"Alex, please go to Smithers. He will help you with the recording devices and break-in materials you might need."

With that, the discussion was over. Alex knew he lost the fight. Without acknowledging his handler, he walked out the door, straight to Smithers' office.

"Alex, my boy! It's good to see you!" he said. Smithers had resumed wearing the fat suit. It was a little strange for Alex now that he knew what was under the suit. Smithers winked at him. Their relationship hadn't changed. Smithers still saved Alex' life on regular basis with his gadgets.

"Hey Smithers. What do you have for me?" he asked.

"Well, it's only things I had lying around, I'm afraid. I didn't get much of a head's up on the mission. Luckily for you, some of these standard gadgets will do. You know how much I love designing for you!"

He took out a briefcase and unlocked it. The briefcase held a few gadgets that Alex had seen before.

"This is your regular explosive chewing gum. You know how it works, chew for 5 seconds, and then stick it to whatever you want to blow up. I've got two flavours. The mint one is a minor explosion, like blowing hinges of a door. The strawberry one is a bigger explosion, especially if you combine two of them. You could blow a serious hole in walls."

Alex smiled at that. He loved his explosive toys. What teenager wouldn't?

"As you know, the phone I gave you is encrypted. Hand it to me, please?"

Alex took out his phone. It had been a gift from Smithers for his birthday last year. The phone had quite a few neat tricks, as well as being a regular phone. Smithers downloaded two new apps.

"This one, I called it 'I Spy', is a listening and recording app. It streams directly to our systems here as soon as you connect to the internet. Otherwise, it stores the data on your phone and sends it later. I disguised it as a game. The other app is called 'Genius', simply because it's absolutely genius. It has the ability to decode and encode messages. You can scan documents, notes, drawings… immediately. The app will help you uncover any hidden messages. It's not 100% fool proof, but it can help you out quite a bit. Everything you scan will automatically be stored on our server. In case you don't have a lot of time, you know?"

Alex nodded.

"Thanks!"

He took his phone back from Smithers.

"Anything else?" he asked.

Smithers shook his head. "I'm still working on some things, but they're not up to point yet. Next mission I might have them ready."

"Alright", Alex replied. He took the candy and waved goodbye at Smithers as he left.

He peddled his bike home, easily swerving between the cars on the busy London streets. As much as he disliked the idea of this mission, and the fact that he'd have to go on the school trip, he was glad it wasn't worse. He could've easily been sent to some third world country doing god knows what. At least this way he wouldn't miss any classes… hopefully.

He locked his bike when he arrived home, quickly heading inside before the clouds of rain that were hanging overhead would burst. Wolf wasn't home. He'd been called away for a few days. Alex wondered whether it was deliberate.

Jack was still at work. Alex looked at her schedule that she'd taped to the fridge. It showed the dates that she would work late, where he'd have to fetch his own dinner. Today was one of those days. Luckily, she'd stored some leftovers in the fridge. Alex took them out and heated up his dinner. While he was waiting, he perused the file once again. This time, he paid more attention to detail.

It looked like he was going to be dealing with more terrorists. He'd already encountered some on his last mission and was not looking forward to more. Domestic terrorism had become a serious issue. Countries like France, Belgium and Germany have been victim to terrorists. The UK has had its fair shares of brushes with terrorism, but nothing as big as a bomb in the airport or trucks driving into crowds on Christmas markets.

The laboratory Alex was supposed to investigate was located right next to the swimming pool. It was a strange location for a lab, but it had been there since before the swimming pool opened. Authorities were suspicious that the lab was a cover for something else. It was Alex' job to find out what exactly was going on in the lab, and report back. The file also mentioned that Alex was not allowed to do anything. Only report. Ha! He'd heard that one before.

The small letters of the file mentioned that if he were captured, under no circumstances was he allowed to tell them that he was an agent. Even if police got involved, he was supposed to keep his cover as a schoolboy who'd gotten lost or who entered the property on a dare, or something similar.

Alex scoffed.

So they were allowed to use him as they pleased, but he'd receive no protection in return? He already hated this new deal.


	4. Chapter 4

4.

One week passed until it was time for Brookland to go on their class trip. Besides Alex' class, a few other classes would be going. Several busses stood ready to transport the kids to the pool. It'd be about a two hour drive from London. Alex took the time to relax on the bus. He was sitting next to Tom. Alex had brought Tom up to speed about everything. His friend had only shaken his head in response. But Alex had noticed that every time someone brought up parliament or certain members of parliament, Tom's lips would curl in disgust. Tom didn't realize it, but Alex saw. It sort of made him happy that Tom expressed the anger that Alex held in.

"Alex, my man!" James nearly jumped on Tom when he enthusiastically flung himself over the back of their seats. He slung his arm over Tom's shoulders, giving Alex a wicked smile and a wink.

"Tommyboy, I need to ask you something. Tell me, ever since you took those shoes off, haven't you noticed anything?"

Alex laughed, having noticed the smell emanating from his best friends' feet. Tom turned a bit red.

"Get off!" he said to James. James laughed and put his hands up. He turned to Alex.

"Alex, I don't know how you hold it out with this guy next to you."

Alex snorted.

"It's hard, but I think I'll survive", he said.

James laughed again.

"I very much doubt that!" he replied. Tom looked murderously at Alex.

"Traitor," he whispered. Alex smiled at him, lifting an eyebrow.

Tom conceded. "Fine, they smell. But, you know what, I don't care. My feet enjoy freedom!"

Their group of friends, who had all been listening to the conversation, laughed loudly. Alex loved it. He stored this moment right here away in a safe place in his head, the one with happy memories. Right in this moment, he felt like he belonged again; he was part of this group, part of the joke instead of being the joke.

The rest of the bus ride went by calmly. When the bus pulled over into the parking lot, Alex checked the time. 10.15. The least conspicuous time to enter the lab would be around noon. That's when everyone would be at lunch. He learned from previous investigations that all the staff took a lunch break between 12.30 and 1pm. So he'd have to spend two hours in the swimming pool.

He looked at the building in front of them. The teachers were rounding the students up per class. Alex was standing next to Tom, who looked at him.

"Are you alright, Alex?" Tom asked. Alex nodded.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'm not going swimming with you guys, I'll just sit in the cafeteria."

Mrs Henstridge overheard Alex.

"Actually, Alex, I have to ask you to join the rest of the group. No teachers will stay behind in the cafeteria. Now, you don't have to go swimming, but we're all entering the swimming hall," she said.

Alex turned to her.

"Can't I just stay behind alone?" he asked.

His plan was already falling apart.

"I'm sorry, Alex, but no. You'll have to come to the pool with us."

The thing that he had hoped to avoid, was going to happen. As the students happily trudged into the building, Alex felt a familiar sense of dread. He had long swimming trunks, so at least the ugly knife scar wouldn't be visible. But he wasn't sure if he could get away with wearing a t-shirt.

He dreaded stepping out of the changing cubicle. Dress code allowed him to wear the longer swimming trunks, but no t-shirt. He didn't think any of his classmates had seen his burnt shoulders or scarred chest yet. He swung a big towel over his torso, making sure to cover the scars. If he kept his towel right there, no one would be the wiser unless they looked closely.

Not even Tom had seen Alex's scars up close. Alex stepped out of the cubicle, greeted by his best mate.

Tom smiled reluctantly.

"You okay?" he asked.

Alex nodded assuredly. The two of them walked into the pool area side by side. Half the football team was already in one of the rapid river pools. They called Tom and Alex over. Tom looked at Alex.

"Go!" Alex urged him. "I'll get one of those deck chairs, or I might even dip my feet in one of the hot tubs."

"Are you sure?" Tom hesitantly asked.

"Yes, I'm sure. Go, enjoy yourself," Alex replied.

Tom nodded and left to meet the other guys while Alex sauntered over to one of the lounge chairs. He made sure to stay away from where some of the teachers were sitting. No way was he going to be associated as the teacher's pet.

Everything went well for about two hours. That's when Alex's watch beeped. He stood up, sneaking a peak at his teachers. None of them were watching him. Alex did what he did best, and slipped away. It would be easy to get back in, he'd just have to pay the entrance fee again. Not an issue, really. He could always get Jones to reimburse him for it.

The mission file had been right about one thing. It was fairly easy to wander from the pool's parking lot onto the terrain next door. He was surprised by the lack of security. If this lab really held illegalities, then they did a poor job of protecting whatever was inside. Still, Alex made sure to move stealthily. He used the shadows of the trees to mask his presence, taking his time to approach the building. The surveillance done by other agents indicated that there was an emergency exit at the back of the building, 10 meters from Alex's current position. Alex immediately spotted the problem. Up until now, he'd had the cover of trees and bushes. But the area in front of the emergency exit was wide open and there were no hiding spots. Alex crouched down. He took his time scanning the environment, looking for camera's and other surveillance equipment.

This just got more bizarre. As far as Alex could tell, there were absolutely no cameras. There were only guards at the front of the complex, not at the back. If he were hiding some secret weapon, or a drugs lab, he'd at least have basic security. All of this smelled fishy.

After a few more minutes, Alex decided to go for it. He quickly dashed towards the door, flattening himself against the wall. His hand reached out to the door, tentatively feeling whether he could open it.

In a way, it was reassuring to find out it was locked. But now he was facing this new issue. If he couldn't get in through the back door, he'd have to find some other way to access the building.

Alex darted back into the bushes. Right on time it seemed, as two armed men walked around the corner. Alex looked at his watch. It was fifteen to one.

The guards seemed to simply do a round of the buildings. They passed by without noticing Alex, who had pressed himself against a tree, making sure not to move a muscle. The most important part about remaining unseen, was not moving. People see what they expect to see. No one expects to see a teenager lurking around in the shadows near a chemical lab.

When they were gone, Alex took stock of the situation again. Slowly, he was formulating a plan in his head. It was tricky, but not undoable. He remembered a similar situation, years ago, when he jumped out of an office onto a flag pole. There was a window on the second floor, and it was open. The trees were quite far away, but one tree had an anomality in it. One tree branch was sticking out much further than the others, and pointing exactly at the window.

Alex hesitated. This seemed too easy. No cameras, a tree branch in front of an open window?

After another minute passed, Alex finally climbed up on the tree. He perched himself on the branch, letting himself move with the natural movements of the tree, swaying along. He slowly crept towards the end of the tree branch, holding on to another tree branch above his head. He would have to stop before getting to the ending, as that part would definitely not be sturdy enough to hold a teenager.

He was so focused on not falling, that he forgot to take in his surroundings.

He stopped.

His instincts were telling him that something was wrong.

Somehow, in his peripheral vision, he had caught something. His brain was still catching up to what his instincts were warning him about. He looked ahead, at the window. It seemed as if everything was fine.

And then he saw it. Inside, in the window. A thin wire was running across the window frame. Somehow, his instincts had picked up on this danger. He'd seen the wire, but it had taken his brain longer to connect the dots. A wire probably meant an alarm.

He was right. This was a set-up.

He quickly clambered down the tree again, looking left and right when he dropped his feet on the ground and fell into a crouch.

Things were too strange here. He was not going into that building today. He slowly moved backwards, back to the pool parking lot.

Once he was there, he let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding. He knew that he'd come very close to making a mistake.

Now, ofcourse, he had to wonder who the trap was for. Had it been set for him? Or just for any possible intruder? He would definitely brief Jones about this.

Alex quickly made his way back into the building. After getting dressed in his swim shorts again, he glanced around the opening, looking at where the teachers were laying. None of them were focused on him. He walked out confidently, pretending like he'd just gone on a bathroom break.

The football team was coming back from one of the slides, seeing Alex walking towards the seating section. His back was towards them. Before Tom could stop them, one of the guys ran after Alex. All of the guys started running, jokingly jumping each other. Tom yelled at Alex, who turned around just in time to see the guys running at him with big goofy smiles. He tried to tighten his hold on the blanket, but as soon as the team hit him, his hold over the blanket disappeared and Alex himself disappeared under a mountain of footballers. The guys were laughing hard. Tom slid to a stop in front of the pile of guys. No one had noticed Alex's chest yet, but Alex felt the pressure of one of his teammates, Harry, pushing down on his chest. His hand was splayed over Alex' bullet wound. Alex locked eyes with Harry. The teenager slowly took his hand from Alex and stared incredulously at the scar marring Alex's chest.

"Alex, what the fuck?" he asked, his eyes bulging. Some of the others were staring as well. They'd stopped laughing. The towel had slid completely from Alex' shoulders and was lying useless on the floor, out of reach. The guys could see the remnants of the flames that had licked Alex' shoulders. The prominent round scar on his heart is what drew most attention.

Alex looked around, seeing all of his teammates watching him.

Most of them knew what he was. They'd signed the OSA. But Alex understood what they were thinking. Knowing something, and truly understanding it were two very different things. Knowing that Alex was a spy was a far cry from seeing the scars that made it real. A small, thin line ran across Alex' abdomen from a knife wound he'd sustained in one of his previous missions. Smaller scars and almost faded ones marred the rest of his chest.

"Shit, Alex." Harry stood up. He put his hand out for Alex, who took it. Harry pulled him to his feet while shaking his head.

"I'm sorry, man. I didn't realize…" he gestured to Alex's chest. Alex could see that they were all feeling a little guilty for not realizing the reason why Alex wouldn't swim with them. He didn't exactly know what to say either.

"What happened?" one of the other guys, Colin, asked.

Alex opened his mouth, but closed it again.

"I can't… I can't tell you guys. You know why," he said, referencing the OSA. He hesitantly looked at all of them.

"Does it hurt?" Harry asked. He was referencing the bullet wound.

"It used to, and sometimes yes, it still does. But not all the time, don't worry," he said, smiling. The other boys didn't know what to say. That's when Tom diffused the tension.

"You know, I have this huge scar on my ass that I got when I was a child. Does anyone want to see it? It's pretty huge and… wait, let me show you guys," he said, moving his hands towards the stretchband of his trunks.

"No! Don't you dare, Harris!"

Several of the guys jumped on Tom now, trying to stop the teenager from pulling down his pants in public. This results in a scuffle between the boys.

"Boys! What is going on here?"

It was Mrs. Henstridge.

She was purposefully striding towards them, eyeing Alex and the team.

"Mr. Rider, I hope you were not planning on pulling a disappearing act. I know you've done it before. Don't you think for a second I will be letting you get out of my sight again."

Alex sighed. Luckily, he'd had the sense to pull the towel over his upper body again.

"Of course not, Mrs Henstridge, I was just coming from the toilet," he replied smoothly.

She pulled her eyebrows up.

"Well," she smiled deviously, "you're free to do that. I'll be going out of the pool, to make sure no students of mine leave this building until the day is over. You know, just in case one of you…," she looks around at all of the boys from the football team, "should decide to ditch school. We might not be at school at the moment, but this is still a school sanctioned trip. We as teachers are responsible for all of you. Do you understand?"

She looked back at Alex. He simply nodded his head. Her eyes flitted over to the rest of the team. All of the boys nodded their heads, murmuring low yes, mam's.

"Good," she replied. She strutted towards the exit, keeping her word to watch the exit carefully. Tom moved to Alex's side while the rest of the team went over to one of the hot tubs.

"So I'm guessing you didn't get inside?" he said.

Alex shook his head. "I wanted to try again, but I don't know… something felt wrong. And now it's too late to go back in, so I guess it won't happen today."

"Yeah, I don't think you'll be able to slip past Henstridge, man. She's got it out for you," he added.

Alex nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I don't think so either." His eyes were still focused on the direction that Mrs Henstridge had disappeared in.

Alex sighed. For the first time ever, he was going to fail this mission. Granted, it wasn't a really important one and no one would immediately die because of his failure, but still. It didn't feel good. And he was sure that this would blow back on him.

During the ride home to London, Tom nudged Alex.

"Hey, don't worry. I'm sure it's not a big deal. Besides, what can they do? Fire you?" he chuckled. Alex snorted.

"Yeah, like that will ever happen," he said. He didn't tell Tom that he was hoping he wouldn't be fired. Despite everything, or maybe because of everything, he truly enjoyed the job. He was definitely planning on having a career with the secret service, and in the process, perhaps change a few things within the agency. But to do so, he'd have to stay on the inside and stay alive for as long as possible.


	5. Chapter 5

"What do you mean, you were unsuccessful?" Mr Pemberton asked.

"I think the word unsuccessful speaks for itself, _sir_," Alex replied. He was currently in a stare down with the parliament representative. After he'd blown the mission, he'd reported back to Jones emptyhanded. She was mildly annoyed that he had failed to do a fairly simple task, but hadn't said much on the subject. Mr. Pemberton, on the other hand, was clearly not happy.

"This is outrageous. You are praised as one of the top agents here yet you fail to do a simple reconnaissance mission. Care to explain?"

"Mr. Pemberton," Mrs Jones interrupted, "perhaps you are blowing it out of proportion. There is no harm done to the mission. Truth is, I don't think Alex should've been involved at all in the first place. Any competent agent should be able to pull this off."

"Then why didn't your star child pull it off?"

"Because he is by far not the best agent in this building. He does not have the training of a full fledged agent. And he was in an impossible situation. I'm sure he also feared being expelled from school, am I right, Mr Rider?" She suddenly turned towards Alex with that question.

Alex nodded quickly. He was surprised she'd admitted that he wasn't the best agent. He knew this, of course, but Jones had always seemed to hold him in such high regard that he had started to slowly believe it.

Mr. Pemberton puffed.

"Hm, I will report on this. And then I WILL be back," he emphasized.

Mrs. Jones nodded as he let himself out. As soon as he was out of the door, she fell back in her chair. Alex sat down opposite her.

"I'm sorry, Alex. This has turned into quite a soup."

Alex smiled.

"Don't worry, I can take care of myself," he said.

"I know, Alex, but the whole point of your employment here is that you shouldn't. We started off on the wrong foot years ago, but you should have all the benefits my agents enjoy. Even more so for all that you have suffered because of what we did to you."

She barely ever acknowledged her past mistakes to him. Part of the reason why Alex had stayed working for them, was because Jones had been incredibly sorry what she had done to him. He'd already forgiven her long time ago.

"I should have been able to protect you from people like him, and situations like this. I will go to the bottom of this to find out what went wrong, and how I can fix your status back to what it was. I honestly prefer never letting you go on missions again over sending you in this blind and unprepared. I'm glad you never even made it into the building."

She hesitated, and Alex felt that she was withholding something.

"Alex, I have to tell you something…," she continued. She took a deep breath and looked him in the eyes. "I sent an agent in after you. Just as a precaution, I wanted you to have some extra protection. When you didn't make it into the building, my agent did some reconnaissance on his own. It turns out that the lab was swarming with armed men, and there were several alarms attached to all the entry ways. You would have been caught the minute you set foot inside."

Alex's mouth hung open. He'd had no idea.

"I know. Mr. Pemberton, and his superiors for that matter, have no idea that I sent in an agent after you. So they don't know that I know this."

Alex once again admired the head of MI6. She smiled at him, an almost genuine smile.

"They should know not to underestimate the oldest secret service in the world. They thought they were the smartest in the room. Never, ever, make their mistakes, Alex," she said.

The teen nodded. The gears in his head were turning.

"You have an inside man," he said.

This time, it was Mrs Jones who looked taken aback.

"Yes," she said hesitantly. "I guess I shouldn't underestimate your abilities either," she smiled.

With that, Alex left her office once again. He quickly pedalled home. Wolf was returning tonight. Jack greeted him from the kitchen.

"Alex, is that you?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied. He sauntered into the kitchen, where Jack was working on dinner.

"No take-out tonight?" he asked.

Jack shook her head. "No, I decided we're going to start eating better."

Alex laughed. He knew this routine by now. At the end of the week, they'd be eating take-out again.

"Sure," he replied. Her eyes shot daggers at him, piercing his sarcasm.

"Hey, I mean it!" she said, pointing a finger at him. "We will last this time."

Alex just smiled. He pulled out his English homework, staying in the kitchen so he could hold a conversation with Jack while she stirred in her pots. They talked a bit about school, not mentioning his mission again. Jack never really liked talking about those, at least not without Wolf present. She already felt guilty that she was part of the reason why he ever started spying in the first place. Alex knew how she felt. He also knew there was nothing he could do about it. No matter how much he told her that it had always been his choice, her guilt would never go away.

A little over an hour later, just as dinner was almost ready, the front door opened. Jack, who was stirring in the soup, lifted her head. Wolf walked into the kitchen, soaked from head to toe.

"I bloody hate England," he cursed. Jack and Alex both laughed. Wolf just shook his head, raindrops flying everywhere.

"Hey hey hey, you're not a dog! I cleaned the kitchen today!" Jack exclaimed. "Go take a shower and change your clothes. Dinner is practically ready, we'll wait for you to get cleaned up."

Wolf growled and trudged up the stairs. Ten minutes later, the trio sat at the table.

"So, Alex, what happened on your assignment?" Wolf asked. Jack had brought him up to speed.

"I don't know," Alex replied. "I just couldn't get in. I didn't want to risk getting caught and expelled. To be honest, the mission itself was very strange. And there's something else…"

He relayed what Jones had told him.

"Hmm, that is strange. Does she think they knew what they were sending you into?" Wolf asked. Alex shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know, but she's on top of it," he said.

"Well, I don't like it. I trust them even less than Jones," Jack said. Wolf agreed with that statement.

"So, I have some news," Wolf announced. "My unit is going to be sent out of the country this week. It'll be a two month tour. A little more than 60 days."

Jack took his hand and smiled. It was the first time that Wolf would be away from them for so long. He looked at Alex.

"I have some army buddies who are stationed near London. They promised to check in on you every once in a while, just to make sure that you are safe. They'll regularly sweep the house as well."

Alex nodded. "Good," he said.

Alex and Wolf had made it a habit to weekly check several places in the house that could hold bugs or cameras, as well as checking that all the locks worked properly and that there's an escape route out of the house from pretty much anywhere. Jack usually shook her head when the boys did that, but it brought all of them a sense of security.

A few days later, Alex received a call from the bank, requesting to come in. Apparently, his handler had a new assignment for him. Wolf had just left on his own assignment. Jack had hugged him tight, making him promise to come home to her. He had.

Alex peddled his bike to the Royal & General. It was after five. Alex just hoped he'd be back in time for dinner. He parked his bike in his spot (yes, he had a spot. Jones had had it made for him after he'd complained about leaving his bike out on the street.), and quickly darted inside. He'd seen those clouds about to burst open.

He greeted Leila at Jones' office, who immediately let him in. Mrs Jones was once again waiting for him behind her desk. It seemed Alex was the first to arrive; Mr Pemberton wasn't there yet.

"Alex. How are you doing?" she asked.

They rarely made small talk, but Alex indulged her this time.

"Good, I guess," he said.

"I hear Wolf is out of the country."

It wasn't a question.

"Yes, he left this afternoon."

Mrs Jones didn't answer, she simply sucked on her peppermint. Alex waited a minute, before asking: "Where is Mr Pemberton? Because if he's going to be very late, I have homework that I can finish in the meantime," Alex said.

Mrs Jones lips curled up.

"He's already in the building. He just wants to waste both of our time by letting us wait for him."

Alex huffed and hung back in his chair. He was tempted to swing a leg over the arm of the chair, but restrained himself. He did lean back, letting his hand massage his neck. His mind left the room, thinking about the essay he had to write. If he could get it started tonight, then he'd have enough time to go to the park tomorrow evening with Tom.

Jones wouldn't admit it, but she both hated and loved it when Alex acted like the teenager he was. She didn't like the attitude it brought, but she needed to be reminded of the fact every once in a while. He was often so mature and experienced, she needed reminding that he was only sixteen, almost seventeen.

A knock on the door brought both of them back to the room. Mr Pemberton entered the room, brushing past Leila. He scrutinized the teenager lounging in the chair, before focussing on Mrs Jones.

"I really don't understand why you must be a part of these conversations, _Tulip_," he said, "you don't have anything to say anyway."

Alex' mouth fell open. He couldn't believe anyone who valued their life could speak to her like that. Well, he had spoken in worse ways, but at least he was justified in doing so.

Mrs Jones' eyes sent daggers at Mr Pemberton.

"I might not be able to change anything about Alex's situation, but I am still his employer and I still have authority over him," she countered.

"For now," Pemberton replied, before focussing his attention on Alex.

"Mr Rider, I have a new mission for you. This one has higher stakes than your previous, failed mission. I hope you are up to the task," he said. He handed a manila folder over to Alex, who took it. The mission would send him to Mexico. He'd been there before with Ian, when they went scuba diving. Alex had been 12 at the time. It was one of the most amazing dives Alex had ever done. He wondered if he'd be able to go diving there during his assignment. Probably not.

The assignment wasn't going to be easy. Infiltrating into a renown smuggling ring, from drugs to people. It sounded extremely dangerous, similar to the job in Jemen that had caused him to be tortured.

"Why me?" Alex asked.

"Because you can, Mr Rider. Aren't you eager to show everyone that you are capable of completing a mission? After all, your track record with us isn't too good now, is it?"

Alex had no words for that. 'What a conceited prick', was all he could think. His eyes flitted to Jones, who had smoothed her face blank again.

"All of the instructions are in the envelope. You leave tomorrow at dawn," he continued. With that, he left the office.

Alex was left standing with the folder in his hand. It contained the details of his mission. He assumed this time Jones had been given a preliminary copy, since she didn't ask to see the assignment.

"Alex, this mission is dangerous. I do not trust this man, and I suggest you don't either. I've taken the liberty to give you back-up. They will attempt to make contact with you once you arrive in Mexico."

She hesitated.

"Please," she started. "Be careful."

She'd never told him that before. Alex nodded, before shutting the door of her office behind him. He gave a quick smile to Leila before heading to Smithers. He still had the gadgets he was supposed to have for the previous mission.

"Hey Smithers, do you have anything new?" he asked. Smithers shook his head, though he did hand over a backpack.

"I take it you remember this? It's a parachute backpack. Mexico sounds dangerous, and I don't know if you'll need it, but just in case… I made a few adjustments to it. Pull the red wire, it opens the parachute. The blue one opens a hidden compartment here at the bottom."

He turned the backpack upside down and showed Alex the compartment.

"Anything you put in there will be waterproof and is undetectable in a metal detector. In case you want to smuggle a gun in somewhere. Or, you know, some fashionable earrings."

Alex smirked.

"And lastly, this purple wire activates a tracking device in the backpack, similar to the one in your phone. Mexico is known for its pickpockets. If anyone steals your phone, we'll still be able to track you through your backpack."

Alex nodded and thanked Smithers. Outside the Royal & General, he quickly gathered his bike, jumped on and pedalled home.

The next morning, after a long goodbye to Jack and a similar promise that she made Wolf make, Alex was on a plane to Mexico.


	6. Chapter 6

"Alright, so you know the plan?" Davies asked. Alex nodded. He was standing in the kitchen of a safe house with several operatives. Davies was the American, the one who would be playing Alex' dad. Alex could see the resemblance. They were both blonde and had a similar eye colour. There was one other CIA operative, Ramsay. Alex didn't like him. In fact, he didn't like any of them. As soon as he'd arrived, he'd known something felt off. His gut was telling him to get out, but Alex couldn't. If he screwed up another mission, who knows what the brass in London would do? The only one he didn't think would screw him over, was Davies. Alex wasn't sure if he was already in his dad role, or if that was just his nature, but he had been nothing but kind to Alex. Alex suspected he had kids his age, or at least a nephew or something.

The three other men were British, part of MI6. Alex had never met them, which wasn't all that strange. All of them had probably been abroad in the past few years. The joint taskforce had been tracking this cartel for several months now. Before that, there had been years of surveillance on the cartel. The addition of Alex was temporary, but apparently it would help a great deal. He still didn't understand why. Any operative could do this job. Sure, it wouldn't be as suspicious with a teenager by their side, but still.

The OP was fairly simple: Alex and Davies would go in together. Davies would leave Alex behind in the lobby and go up to the main office floor. He would meet with an executive of a company that held strong ties to the cartel, all under a ruse of proper business. Alex in the meantime would play the bored teenager, setting out to explore the building. He'd find his way to a certain office of Mr. García Mendez. This office would definitely be empty, as Ramsay would make sure the owner of the office would be preoccupied elsewhere. It was very important that they got eyes and ears inside, so Alex would install some bugs and small cameras. And then he'd walk away, wait for Davies in the lobby and they'd walk out together.

It was simple and would be very effective. If Alex proved his worth here, they would add him to their team and get him in a private school, where some of the cartel leaders' kids went. And that's where the real work for Alex would start. But they needed him here first. Alex could see the value of the OP, but he still had his doubts. But, as usual, no one wanted to listen to the teenager in the room. They didn't want him here. They hadn't requested him. Officially, they shouldn't even know he existed. But the rumour mill of secret services across the world was going strong, especially after Alex' altercation with the terrorist in Yemen a few months ago. These men knew who he was and what he had been through. It didn't mean they trusted him. Alex knew less about them, but he was expected to blindly trust them. It wasn't fair, but he would just prove his youth if he complained about it. So he stayed silent.

"Now, after we leave, Adams will hack into their security circuit and erase the footage of us being there."

That's where Alex' doubts came in. If he could do that, why couldn't they hack the footage in order to place their surveillance? It didn't add up. But he squashed his doubts down. He had to trust these men.

"Okay, I guess that's it. Get some sleep, boys. Tomorrow is a big day."

Ramsay stood up and went outside, presumably to smoke. The man had an addiction. Alex had noticed he smoked at least two packs a day. It would get him killed some day. It was very dangerous for any type of undercover or surveillance officer to have an addiction.

'Not your problem, Alex', Alex thought. Adams, Gonzalez and Patel all moved to the livingroom, lounging on the couch. The three of them were tight, Alex had noticed. He also knew that they weren't Jones' favourites. She had warned Alex about Gonzalez specifically, telling him to watch out for him. She had suspicions he was playing more than one side, but no confirmation. All three were also suspected of transferring data to Alex' handler. Hence, how he had known about the mission. All of this reeked of trouble, and Alex would have preferred to stay away from the government conspiracy. But unfortunately, he was at the center of it.

Alex watched the trio for a while, his brows furrowed. He leaned against the doorpost between the living room and the kitchen, where he knew Davies was watching him. Davies joined Alex, looking at the others in the room.

"I know you have serious doubts about this mission, Alex. But it's going to work. And then you'll be home in no time," he said, smiling.

Alex shook his head.

"They want me to do more here. They're not going to send me to the other side of the world just to break into a building. And aside from entering that school, I know there's even more behind it. I just don't know their angle yet."

Davies looked at him.

"You know, when they told me that a teenager was coming in on this OP, I was furious. I didn't want a civilian to upset the balance of this operation. I've been working this case for eight months now. But then they told me you weren't a civilian. I didn't know what to think. And since you've gotten here, I haven't even seen a teenager. You're an agent, 100% experienced and professional. Honestly? It disturbs me, Alex. You should be in school. Why aren't you?"

He was serious. Alex didn't know how to respond to that. He shrugged.

"I don't have much of a choice. And besides that, I do kind of like what I do. I'm just used to having more control in it. I don't like leaving my fate in other people's hands. And I'll catch up on school when this is over. It's okay, I've always managed to keep up."

Davies raised his brows.

"Always? How long have you been doing this?"

Alex hesitated.

"A while…" he said, not trying to give too much personal info.

Davies backed away.

"Okay, I get it. You don't want to share. That's fair. Just… be safe out there, okay. I don't think I want to be responsible for anything happening to you out there."

Alex nodded.

"Don't worry. I can take care of myself."

He pushed off from the doorpost and went straight to his bed. He just couldn't get to sleep. He spent hours staring at the ceiling. One by one, the others went to bed. Low snoring noises confirmed that they were fast asleep.

A few hours from dawn, Alex finally fell into a restless sleep, giving in to the fatigue.

After a short night's sleep, Alex was standing in front of the main office of a financial corporation in the middle of Mexico City. It was strange that the world of cartels collided with these buildings, but it had been established that the financial bureau was being used to whitewash the money the cartel brought in. Substantial amounts of money passed through these offices on a daily basis. The cartel was well-organized, and it was nigh impossible to catch them breaking the law. Of course, they could arrest many foot soldiers, but that was not what they were after. They needed to eliminate all the top dogs. The cartel was looking to expand to Europe, mainly Britain. It's why MI6 had taken an interest and was cooperating with the CIA, who were trying to get rid of this particular cartel for years.

Alex had a fake ID on him, but he was allowed to keep his own phone and backpack. The men had told him to leave his passport in the safe house, but Alex had stuffed it in the secret bottom of his backpack. He wanted to be able to have a back-up plan, just in case.

Davies looked over at Alex, and with a nod of his head, the two went inside.

"Buenas días. ¿Cómo puedo ayudarles?"

"Hello, my name is Chandler David. I have a meeting with Mr. Hernández," Davies said.

The secretary smiled at him.

"Ofcourse, sir. Here is a visitor's badge. I must ask you to sign in your name, please. And who is the young man?" she asked, looking at Alex.

"This is my son, Grayson. I'd like for him to accompany me. He is learning the ropes of doing business."

Davies excelled at sounding like a strict father who expected his lazy teenage son to step up. Alex looked annoyed. It was part of his role, but he didn't have to act much for it.

The secretary smiled again and gave Alex a visitor's badge as well.

"Mr. Hernandez's offices are on the twelfth floor," she added. Davies nodded at her and motioned to Alex. The two of them walked past security, flashing their badges, and got in an elevator.

"Okay Alex, this is where we split. The office is on the 11th floor, just one floor below mine. Good luck," Davies said. Alex gave him a nod. The elevator stopped at floor 11 and Alex got out. He watched as the doors closed behind him.

He was standing in a long corridor. Some of the offices in this building had an open floor plan, but this one was old school. It had separate offices in various corridors, just like in a hotel. And 1115 was Alex' destination. He walked through the hall, knowing roughly where his destination was. He looked at the camera's, hoping as hell that they were disabled. If not, he would find out soon enough.

Bingo! Alex stood in front of a mahogany door that had the number 1115 on it and a name plate next to it. He took out the tools he needed to pick the lock and was inside 5 minutes later. He closed the door, in case someone would come in the hall. That way his presence wouldn't be known immediately. He looked around the office. He had three bugs and four small cameras that were meant to cover the entire office. He carefully placed the cameras in the four corners of the room, checking via an app on his phone that they were covering the entire office and working perfectly. He placed one bug inside a plant. It seemed like an obvious choice, but who really sweeps their plants for bugs? The next one went underneath the desk. The last one he placed by the door. It might even catch conversations in the hallway.

Satisfied with his work, Alex slipped back into the hallway.

He'd made a mistake. He hadn't checked whether the hallway was empty. Two security guards were standing at the end of the hallway. They hadn't seen him yet. He couldn't go back in the office, he'd be trapped there. He slowly walked backwards to the other end of the hallway. He thought he could make the emergency exit there. Until one of the security guards turned his head and spotted the teen.

"Hé! ¡Stop! ¡No te mueves!" Don't move!

Alex didn't really want to follow that order. He turned and bolted. The guards immediately chased after him. One of them yelled through his radio.

"Tenemos un intruso! ¡Piso once, está moviendo para abajo!" We have an intrudor! Floor 11, he's moving down!

Alex pushed open the emergency doors, setting off an alarm throughout the building. Shit! He'd caused quite the commotion. There was no stopping now. He could only hope Davies would find his way out of the building before the two of them got linked together. Alex ran down the stairs, taking two at a time. He heard a door slam underneath him. At the bottom, several armed men were running up the stairs. Alex was now on the third floor. He bolted through another door, finding himself in a hallway where people were actually working. He ran to the other side of the large office space.

"Exit?" he asked one of the baffled employees. She pointed her finger at a door a bit further down. Alex ran towards it. He heard the door behind him open up and then more yelling in Spanish. And then he felt a bullet whistle past his head. People were screaming behind him and chaos had erupted. He pushed his shoulders against the exit and was greeted by more stairs. He ran down as fast as possible and pushed open the exit door. Luckily, this exit went straight to the street. He wouldn't have to pass the lobby anymore. Security was hot on his heels now. Alex ran across the street. He jumped over the hood of a car that had screeching brakes. He started zigzagging when he heard more shots fired. The men were catching up to him now. He ducked into an alley. It wasn't that far towards the safe house. He wasn't sure if he should lead the men there, but he didn't have much of a choice. There would be no other safe place for him. He looked over his shoulder and was surprised that no one was following him anymore. He slowed down a bit so he could catch his breath, but he continued jogging.

All of a sudden, a black SUV turned the corner. It came at him at full speed. Alex started running again. Two more blocks and he'd reach the safehouse. One more block.

Two other cars had joined the chase now, but it was hard for them to catch up to Alex. Alex made use of the structure of the city. He jumped over fences and walls, using parkour.

He turned into a familiar street. There, only a few hundred meters away, was the safe house. But this street was wider and more open. It allowed for the SUVs to easily catch up on him. Alex almost reached the house.

Suddenly, he felt a searing pain in his right leg. He stumbled and fell to the ground. Blood was oozing out of his calf, a small bullet wound indicating the origin. Alex struggled to get to his feet. So close! He was so close! He looked at the safe house.

Ramsay was sitting outside of the safe house on one of those plastic garden chairs. He looked straight at Alex, but didn't move. Did he not want to give away the safe house? Or…

Ramsay smiled. He even had the audacity to wave at him as two men pulled Alex to his feet and hauled him to one of the cars. Alex struggled, a menacing look on his face. He managed to wrangle his arm out of the hold of one of the men and punched him in the face. He heard a satisfying crack before he felt the bolts of electricity going through him when the other man tasered him. A fist flying towards his face was the last thing Alex saw before the blackness swerved in.


	7. Chapter 7

**Here I am with another update! I just wanted to give a triggerwarning here. This chapter and the next one include imprisonment and torture. **

**Enjoy! (I'm aware of how ironic that sounds with the torture, but whatever)**

As Alex came to, he became aware of several things. First, his hands were tied behind his back. Second, he was sitting on a chair. Third, someone just splashed water in his face.

Alex sputtered and coughed a bit.

"Welcome, Mr Rider. That is your name, right? Mr Alex Rider, employed by the British Intelligence Services. Not really the image of James Bond, are you?"

The man speaking to him spoke with a strong Mexican accent. He looked the part as well. His face was square. He had jet black hair and dark brown eyes. He had a gap between his front teeth which gave him a slight lisp. But his English was good, suggesting he had spent some time abroad, most likely in the US.

Alex didn't respond to him. He didn't want to give the man anything satisfactory.

But the Mexican just smiled.

"No problem, Mr Rider. Or may I call you Alex?" he smiled.

Alex tried to kill him with his eyes. Alas, no luck. He vowed to practice that skill more.

"I don't think we've quite reached the first name basis," he said. The Mexican smiled.

"Alex, you're right. My name is Alfonso Rodriguez. But they call me El Carcinero." He pointed at himself and smiled his crooked smile again.

El Carcinero. The butcher.

Alex's eyes finally saw where he was. It seemed like a butcher's meat locker. Though it was pretty empty. Now that he was more aware, he felt something else as well. He winced. His right leg was hurting pretty bad. He could feel that his leg was bandaged. They probably didn't want him to bleed out. At least not yet.

The butcher looked like he was ready to serve Alex as a filet, but he refrained from touching him.

Alex took the short time to look around, trying to situate himself. By the noises outside and the state of the walls and interior in general, Alex assumed he was in one of the poorer districts of Mexico City, possibly in the favelas.

The door opened. Two men in suits walked in, flanked by some heavy hitters with machine guns in their hands.

"Ah, Mr Rider. You're awake. Good!" one of the suits said.

"I imagine this is all very strange to you. Don't worry, we have a very good explanation for all of this. First of all, my apologies for the rudeness of our friend here. I believe he's a bit over eager to get started.

I'm sure you've heard of Alastair Henstridge. He works for your government. It just so happens that he doesn't like your government very much."

Henstridge. Alex knew that name.

"Mr Henstridge decided that the government had made a mistake to keep you alive. He's adamant that you mustn't survive your trip to Mexico. You see, a couple of years ago, you foiled the plans of one Desmond McCain. Mr Henstridge and Mr McCain had been friends and business partners for some years. Mr Henstridge lost quite a lot of money in the process. And it looks like he blames you. So he hired us to let you know exactly how he feels.

He wanted us to kill you very fast, but that seems like a treat. We're looking to expand to your country. There is a lot of potential in Europe, and we believe that the best country to start in is yours. But we could use some… how do you say it? Intelligence, I believe. Yes, some intelligence on how exactly we can evade being noticed by your secret services. I'm sure you can help with that."

Alex shook his head.

"I don't know anything," he said. It wasn't a plea. It was just a statement. He really didn't know anything. Even if he did, no way was he going to tell this man.

"Hmm… we'll see about that, Mr Rider."

He appeared to be done talking, but something had been whirling around in Alex' head.

"Henstridge," he whispered. Why did that name sound so familiar?

"Mrs Henstridge!" Alex suddenly exclaimed. The men in the room looked confused. "My goddamn teacher, Mrs Henstridge."

"Ah, ofcourse. You are quite familiar with Mr Henstridge's daughter. She was invaluable in the plan to bring you to us."

It really had been an inside job. He knew that that mission had been botched from the start.

"Forget about her, Alex. You will never see her again. You will never see your country again. Don't worry, you won't see what we will do to it once we get there. You will be dead long before that."

He made it sound like a promise. Alex wasn't scared, but he knew that getting out of here wouldn't be easy.

"Put him out. We're transferring him to the new location. Look happy, Alex. We are giving you a new home."

El Carcinero took out a syringe, presumably filled with a sedative. Alex struggled against his bonds, but there was no getting away. He flinched when the needle pierced his skin. He felt his eyes getting sluggish and fought to keep them open.

"Close your eyes, Alex."

It was hard not to follow that command, and two seconds later, Alex Rider was fast asleep.

When he woke up, it was obvious that he had been moved. His shirt was clinging to the sweat on his chest. The heat was almost unbearable. There was no AC in this room. There were no windows. The door was fortified. He wasn't in the favelas anymore, that was sure. He was no longer tied to a chair. Alex presumed that the reason for it was that there was no way out of this place anyway. He looked around the room. He was lying on a matrass on the floor. It had stains in it and looked dirty, but it was all he had. There was a pot in a corner. Some water in a glass next to the door. Alex crept towards it. He was still feeling sluggish from the sedation. He took the water and slowly sipped it. He only took a bit, as he wanted to preserve as much as possible.

He shot backwards when the door was pushed open. With his back against the wall, he jumped into a defensive crouch. Two armed men walked in first, followed by El Carcinero.

"Alex! ¡Qué bueno verte aquí! We are going to have so much fun together!" he smiled. The two armed men left the room, only to return quickly without their weapons. Alex glanced between them in confusion.

"Ah, couldn't risk you making a grab for those guns, could we?" the butcher said.

The two buffoons closed in on either side of Alex. Alex jumped to his feet, but the quickness made his head dizzy and suddenly, the two big men were each holding one of his arms. He tried to fight them, but they were too strong for him. His mind was still catching up on what was happening around him.

And then the butcher punched him in the stomach. Alex doubled over, but he was being held upright by the men at his side. Again, and again, and again, Alex was punched in the stomach. And the next punch landed on his face. His head jerked back and he felt blood oozing out of his nose. The two men dropped Alex to the ground and then kicked him in the stomach. Alex curled up in foetus position. The two men laughed and left the room. The butcher leaned over Alex.

"This isn't the end, Alex. We're only getting started," he whispered, before leaving the room.

Alex coughed up blood. After a while, he crawled over to the matrass and collapsed there. It took him half an hour to sit up. He tried to wipe the blood of his face, but it was no use. He wheezed a little when taking a deep breath. He tried to feel his ribs, making sure none were broken. He didn't think they were, but then again, it's not like he had a medical degree.

He lay back down on the matrass and closed his eyes, trying to forget where he was.

Over the next couple of days, the same thing happened. The three men came in, beat him black and blue and then left him alone for the rest of the day. They came in at different times, never sticking to a routine. Alex knew they were playing with his head, keeping him in a constant state of vigilance, even though there was nothing he could do about it.

The only way he could tell the time was because of a nearby church. Its clocktower sounded every hour. And every night at midnight, Alex put a stripe in the wall with a loose rock he'd found in the room. 8 stripes. He'd been here for over a week. He knew that by now he had at least one broken rib. If they kept beating him up like this, he wouldn't survive much longer. One of his eyes was swollen shut, his body was bruised and broken. The bullet wound in his leg was hurting the most. Alex knew that infection was setting in. He needed to do something about it, but he didn't have anything to fix his leg.

It was almost midnight again and they hadn't been by yet. Alex just sat around, waiting for the clock to strike 12. If it did, then something had changed. No one had been in the room the entire day. There had been water and some bread for him in the morning, but he hadn't seen anyone. He sat up against the wall, his knees drawn up and arms resting on top of them.

When the clock struck 12, Alex exhaled and lay down on the matrass. He had no idea what was happening, whether they gave him a day to rest, or if this was in preparation for the next part of his ordeal. The uncertainty made him restless, and he realized that he'd become almost dependent on the beatings. Now that he hadn't had one, he didn't know what to expect. He stared at the ceiling for the rest of the night.

When the clock struck 6 o'clock in the morning, the door opened again. Alex sat up right away, trying to find the strength to defend himself. But they hadn't come in to beat him up. Instead the butcher, who hadn't in fact butchered him yet, had a syringe in his hand. He walked towards Alex, who was now ready to fight him off. The butcher saw the defiance in his eyes, and summoned the big buffoons to hold Alex. Fighting them was futile, but Alex tried anyway. It didn't matter, they easily gained control. The butcher slid the needle in Alex's neck and Alex felt the drowsiness hit him. They were sedating him again. Alex struggled against the blackness, but there was no way to fight it. It pulled him under almost instantly.

A screeching sound woke him up. Somewhere, a speaker had been turned on and it made it impossible for Alex to think straight. He pressed his hands against his ears, curling up into a ball, waiting for it to stop. It lasted several minutes, before finally shutting down. Alex's hands stayed on his ears for a few moments longer, before realizing that the sound was now gone. His breath evened out again.

'What was that?' he wondered.

He would find out soon enough. He'd realized quickly that there was a camera in the corner of the room. He couldn't reach it, otherwise he'd have taken it down. He tried climbing the wall, but his injuries stopped him. The knowledge that he was being monitored scared him. He didn't know what their plan was.

At night, just as Alex laid down to sleep, the sound came on again. Once again, after a few minutes, it stopped.

It went like that the entire night. Alex couldn't fall asleep due to the incredibly loud screeching noise. He finally understood what they were doing.

Sleep deprivation.

He'd heard about this technique before. SAS training included RTI, and sleep deprivation was one of the techniques they sometimes used to torture their soldiers. Loud noises that stopped them from falling asleep, keeping them awake for so long that they got disoriented, losing track of time. Theoretically, he knew that severe sleep deprivation could even lead to death. The body needed time to recover itself. Alex had no idea how long he could last with this torture. His body was already bruised and broken.

He was terribly tired, but every time he closed his eyes, the sound pierced his ears.

After what seemed like an eternity, he was finally able to fall asleep.

He was sure it had been no more than an hour when the noise woke him up again. Alex groaned, trying to sleep through it, but that was impossible.

He curled up and put his hands on his ears again, too exhausted to do much else.

When the noises stopped, he was fed up with it.

"What do you want?" he cried. He just wanted it to stop. The noise started up again. Alex could do nothing else but lie there and hope it would go away.

The same pattern as the day before repeated. Every time he was close to falling asleep, the noise would pierce through the walls.

Alex had no idea how long it had been going on or how long he had been here. He could no longer hear the church bells, and there was no way to tell time. He didn't care anymore. He just wanted to sleep.

His muscles had weakened drastically. The lack of sleep combined with a lack of movement and food made him the weakest he had ever been.

He closed his eyes and felt himself drifting away. He tensed, waiting for the sound to come and take him away from the promise of a peaceful sleep. It didn't and Alex slowly drifted away.

He didn't notice when the door opened, and a syringe was pushed into his neck, fully sedating him.


	8. Chapter 8

Everything was different again. They'd moved him to a new location. He was definitely in a cellar now, but this one was different. It was still warm, but it was a sort of clammy heat. Water was dripping down the brick walls. Alex was chained to the ceiling, his arms and shoulders aching already. His feet touched the ground, but not completely. The position was very painful. It's what had woken him up. Alex didn't like this. At least before, he was given some relief. Now? He was in pain constantly. The bruises on his body were pulling in every way. He needed to stand on his legs in order to relief the pain on his shoulders, but his right leg was very weak. He could barely support himself with his left leg. The right one hurt too much. He was still extremely tired and could barely keep his eyes open.

The door opened.

The men who had been there on his first day were back.

"Alex Rider. How are you?"

They didn't give him time to answer, not that he would have anyway.

"It is time that we make some progress here. We have left you alone for a while now, but we cannot do that anymore. I would like you to tell me everything you know about your boss. Mrs Jones?"

Alex looked up. So that was what they were after. Intel on how to bribe her.

Alex smiled.

"You'll never be able to bribe her," he wheezed. "She won't bow to you. Or anyone."

The words came out softly. Alex' voice cracked.

"Tell me what you know about MI6."

"I don't know… anything. Do you…" he coughed, before continuing, "do you seriously think that they tell me anything?"

One of the suits nodded to a guard standing by the door. The guard opened the door and a familiar face walked in.

El Carcinero.

He had a bag with him, which he put on the ground next to Alex. Alex saw the glint of the knife before it came at him. He flinched, but the butcher missed, on purpose, and laughed.

"We don't care whether you tell us anything. We have already been paid. It would just be an added bonus. But you might care. As long as you can mean something to us, we will keep you alive. When you run out of information… well, let's just say you don't want to outgrow your usefulness.

Now, tell me. Mrs Jones. Intelligence. Military structures. All of it."

"I. Don't. Know. Anything." Alex grunted.

The suit nodded to the guard, who brought in a chair and a bucket. El Carcinero unchained Alex from the ceiling, pushing Alex on the chair and lifting his head back. Alex knew what was coming. He'd been given a similar treatment by the CIA before. He started to struggle against the chains, but it was no use. A soaked rag was placed over his mouth and nose. Alex already struggled to breathe properly. And then the water came. Alex sputtered, but he needed to take a breath. Only, when he tried, there was only water. He tried to gasp for air but couldn't.

Then the rag was lifted of his face and he could snap his head forward. He coughed up all the water, taking deep breaths. Just as he was starting to calm down, his head was pulled back again.

"No!" he cried out. "Don't! I don't know anything, I swear!"

It was no use. They kept at it for a couple more minutes, before they all left the room, leaving Alex chained up, heaving and shaking uncontrollably.

He was still sitting on the chair, which he was kind of grateful for. But now he was soaking wet. His body was shivering from exhaustion.

Over the next few days, the suits came in every day asking for information. Alex gave them some things, but he truly didn't know anything. He gave them small things about Jones, knowing that none of these things could ever endanger other people's lives.

After a while, they switched techniques. Instead of drowning him, they started electrocuting him. He was hung up on the ceiling chains once again. The butcher had taken off Alex' shirt. He burned Alex' back with electricity. Alex cried out every time the butcher hit him.

What also changed were the questions they had for Alex. It seemed like they had switched from trying to gain vague info on Jones and MI6 in general, to wanting more specific information on his mission.

"Tell us something about this mission you were sent on. How many agencies were involved?"

Alex shook his head, refusing to answer. In return, he was electrocuted again.

"AAAAAARGH you bloody blighter!" Alex cursed.

El Carcinero chuckled.

"Let's try this again. What agencies were involved? How many agents?"

Another shock.

"Who was involved?" the suit asked again.

Alex refused to answer and was shocked again.

And then he did something that surprised everyone in the room. He laughed.

"They succeeded, didn't they? I have no idea what their mission was, and I'm pretty sure someone used the mission to get me captured, but the mission itself was very much real. Oh man, that's gotta sting. I bet whoever delivered me didn't tell you that, did they?"

The suit smiled and shook his head.

"Too bad, Mr Rider. You have just outlived your usefulness. You will die now. Today. Or tomorrow. Maybe next week."

The suit shrugged his shoulder and nodded to the butcher.

"Esta tu juego ahora," he said. It's your game now.

The suits left the room. They took the guard with them. Alex presumed he would still be stationed outside of the door. But inside the cellar, it was just Alex and El Carcinero.

The man had a wicked smile. He was already enjoying this.

"You don't have to do this," Alex tried. But it was no use. He could see that the butcher would enjoy what came next. A true psychopath.

El Carcinero took the blade and ran the flat part of the blade over Alex's scar on his cheek. Alex flinched at the touch, remembering how he got it months ago.

He felt the piercing pain when El Carcinero lightly stroked Alex' torso with the blade. It wasn't a deep cut, but still hurt like hell. Alex refused to cry out. He closed his eyes.

He was bleeding from several places now. He was tired, hungry, thirsty. El Carcinero was just prolonging his suffering. He gave Alex a few more shallow cuts, enjoying stroking his knife over the teenager's body. One particular cut on Alex's forehead bled profusely. The blood streamed in his eyes and Alex was forced to close them. The butcher left after that.

Alex was still hanging from the ceiling, his arms stretched uncomfortably. His right leg was completely useless by now. He had no idea anymore how much time had passed since he'd first been captured. A couple of weeks. Maybe a month.

One of the wounds on his torso was bleeding sluggishly. He was doused in blood from the various wounds he'd sustained. He had been shivering for hours now.

His eyes drooped, but now he fought to stay awake. He wasn't sure if he'd wake up if he fell asleep. It was a scary thought, but Alex's body was giving up.

Months ago, when he had been captured by that lone terrorist, he had a different feeling. He hadn't felt so ruined and lost and tired. He had still been fighting, mouthing off and insulting the man. He didn't even have to energy to open his mouth at this point.

Alex knew that is was a matter of hours, not days. If no help showed up, he would die. It was a weird thought to have. Even with MI6's spotty record of back-up, Jones had reassured him that he would have some. Where were they? What had they been doing these past few weeks?

He just resigned himself to hanging there, feeling the life seep out of him with every drop of blood that fell to the floor. His entire body was shivering and aching. He closed his eyes. As dramatic as it sounded, the end was coming. He was not ready, but he didn't have a choice.

El Carcinero entered the room again and Alex knew it was the last time by the glint in the butcher's eyes.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Chapter 10 will be the last chapter of this part of the story. But don't worry, I'm already writing a sequel. Enjoy these last two chapters!**

Alex was very much unaware of how close his back-up actually was. Jones had made sure he would have the best back-up available. Several SAS soldiers and an MI6 agent were scouting the location they were sure held Alex.

"Wolf, I'm telling you, we have to wait for more back-up. We have no idea what's in there. It's a risk to go in without that intel," Snake said.

"I didn't ask for your permission. From what we managed to catch from those guards, the prisoner is running out of time. We don't have certain confirmation, but we're quite sure that the prisoner is Cub." Wolf sighed.

He looked at Snake, and then at the other soldiers standing close by. As captain of the troop, he was responsible for these 15 men. The unitleaders reported to him. If any of the soldiers died here today, Wolf would take full responsibility for that. But he couldn't lose Alex.

"If we wait, and he's dead, then that's on us," he whispered. "And I can't go home to London with the news that he's dead. She will never forgive me," he added.

He wasn't talking about Jones. Jones could go 'fuck herself', in Wolf's own words. No, he was talking about the woman that he'd begun to love. He'd only been with her for a couple of months, but it felt like a lifetime. And he cared a lot about Alex. He couldn't lose him. He'd never forgive himself.

Snake looked conflicted, but then nodded.

"Fine, we go in," he said.

Wolf nodded in return.

"We'll wait until agent Daniels is back. Then we move in. All units move to position. Report when in position, then maintain radio silence until I give the order," Wolf commanded.

Three units of soldiers moved in position. K-unit stayed where they were. Under Wolf's command, they would enter first. The other units would hit the compound from other angles. Wolf wasn't surprised that the compound was barely protected. There was nothing important in there, and the men who took Alex thought they'd shaken them off.

They had been close to getting Alex before, but the cartel had moved him before the local police had gotten the warrant to search the place. Wolf had been pissed, and worried, especially after they'd encountered blood at the scene. From that moment on, Wolf had asked special permission to treat this as a covert mission on enemy territory. This meant that they wouldn't inform local authorities of what they were up to. They would skirt around local laws and do illegal searches. It might've brought some problems between the British and Mexican governments, but Jones didn't care anymore. She wanted Alex to be able to go home as well.

Daniels was back. He dropped in next to Wolf, who did his best not to look surprised at the sudden appearance of the spy. It was disconcerting, yet he'd gotten used to Alex doing it to him all the time.

"Alright, there's still several guards posted. The suits we saw earlier just got on a helicopter and flew off. We have to move in as quickly as possible," Daniels warned.

Wolf hadn't followed his train of thought.

"I want to move in as well, but… maybe we should wait for more back-up," Wolf said. He'd started doubting himself, questioning whether he was in the right frame of mind to make the right decision. He didn't want to just make the best decision for Alex, but for his troop as well.

But Daniels shook his head.

"The suits left. I don't think they're planning on coming back. There's another helicopter being loaded up with everything else as we speak. I believe El Carcinero is still in there, but if he's going to be on that helicopter, it means that Alex is close to dying. They're going to kill him, Wolf. We need to move in, now," Ben argued.

Wolf simply nodded and gave the command through his radio.

"ALL UNITS, MOVE IN!" he shouted.

K-Unit lead the move. They already heard gunshots on the other sound of the compound. Ben stayed behind. This was a SAS mission right now.

K-Unit moved swiftly, securing all hostile targets quickly and without casualties. They wanted to capture as many hostiles as possible. They needed to interrogate them all.

The unit kept complete silence as they swept the building. They cleared the first floor, before moving towards the basement. Another unit would clear the rest of the building.

They were faced with another guard who looked ready to shoot. Eagle took him down before he had the chance. The guard had been standing in front of a steel door. It was locked from the inside.

"El Carcinero has to be in there, with Alex," Wolf whispered. "Eagle?"

Eagle nodded and moved to the door. He felt around the door for a second, before taking out charges to blow open the door. He put the charges on and the unit moved back around a corner.

The door blew of its hinges. Sand flew up all around them. They heard two gunshots.

"Move, move, move," Wolf urged. He led the way through the smoke. He first encountered a body on the floor.

El Carcinero.

He'd shot himself in the head, probably realizing that he'd otherwise be tortured for information. Wolf looked around for Alex, but the smoke blurred his vision and made it hard to see. Then he noticed the chain on the ceiling. A body was hanging from it.

"Alex!" he yelled out. There was no response.

"Alex?" he asked cautiously. He hesitated. He wasn't sure if he wanted to encounter the teen's dead body. A groan quickly made him surge forward.

"Alex, can you hear me?"

He finally got a good view of the teenager as the smoke cleared and the dust started to settle. Alex's body was bruised, bloodied and broken. Snake pushed past Wolf, quickly radioing for a medical evacuation. They'd had one standing by nearby. It would fly Alex to a hospital in Mexico City, where he could receive primary care. Once he was stable enough to fly, a medical emergency army plane would fly him to the US, Texas. He would be brought to a hospital in San Antonio, which was ready to receive the teen. With the cartel's dominant presence in Mexico City, it was unsafe for Alex to stay there.

Alex was wheezing, having trouble breathing. El Carcinero had just shot him, blood pouring from the wound in his shoulder. Eagle and Bear quickly worked together to get Alex off those chains and on the ground. Wolf could barely stand to look at him. Snake started working on the wounds.

"Wolf! I need help!" he yelled. Wolf kneeled down opposite Snake, on the other side of Alex' head. Snake pushed bandages in his hands, and Wolf helped to cover up the wounds in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

They both looked up at the sound of the helicopter.

Daniels ran into the room, followed by two paramedics carrying a stretcher. The soldiers helped put Alex on the stretcher. They rolled Alex to the helicopter. As they came outside, Wolf could see the other units guarding the prisoners. They were waiting for the backup. More soldiers were on their way, as well as their commander. He could see the soldiers' eyes tracking the stretcher. The bloodied body, the youthful but scarred face. Wolf refused to leave Alex's side. He looked at Snake, who was also reluctant to let the young one go.

"Snake," Wolf's voice broke. Snake looked at him.

Wolf was still captain, he needed to stay and fulfil his duty.

"I have him, Wolf. I won't let him out of my sight, I promise," Snake said. Wolf nodded, before letting the paramedics load Alex in the helicopter. He would find Alex as soon as possible.

Snake climbed on board the helicopter with the paramedics, accompanied by Ben. Ben would act as Alex' official handler, giving both Snake and himself full clearance to any medical decisions the hospital might make.

The chopper took off. Wolf kept staring at it until it was completely out of sight. That's when he turned back to the prisoners they had. His men had secured them and, aside from the butcher, there were no casualties. Wolf wished the butcher has still been alive, so he could've killed him himself. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. It took their backup another hour to reach them. Wolf was able to hand command over to his commander.

"Wolf, take the rest of your unit. You're off-duty now. Go see the kid," the commander told him.

Wolf didn't need any more prompting. He saluted his commander, and together with Eagle and Bear, commandeered a jeep to drive to the hospital where Alex was. On the way there, they got a call from Snake.

"Come straight to the army base, we're moving Cub. The cartel got wind of what's happened, and they've put a bounty on his head. He's not safe here," Snake concluded.

"Is it safe to move him, though?" Wolf asked. Eagle was driving the jeep. He'd taken one look at Wolf's shaking hands and had taken control. Bear sat in the back, giving Eagle instructions. Wolf was too preoccupied.

"Not really, he's still very much in danger. But if he stays, there's a big chance they'll get to him. So we're moving him."

Wolf nodded and told Eagle to floor it. They needed to be on that plane. They made it right on time. Eagle quickly parked the car, tossing the keys to one of the soldiers that had been waiting to escort them to the plane.

"The plane is ready for take-off. Everything you brought with you is already aboard. Emergency visas will be issued to all of you upon arrival at the base in Texas. Good luck, soldiers," the man saluted. The unit saluted back before running to the plane. They greeted the crew on board and strapped in. Alex was lying in a bed at the back, strapped in for the flight. It was risky to have him fly, but they had no other options.

The flight went okay, up until the point where they started to land. The difference in pressure sparked something in Alex, and the kid woke up. And then he died.

He gasped for breath before passing out, and the heart monitor let out a monotonous beep.

"Shit!" Snake cursed. He'd just strapped himself in. He quickly unbuckled himself and jumped on the bed. A nurse and doctor who were flying with them moved as well. Snake started performing CPR while the nurse prepped a defibrillator.

Wolf held on tight as he saw Snake pushing down on Alex' chest.

"Snake, clear!" the doctor said. Snake jumped off the bed and raised his arms. The doctor applied the defibrillator to Alex. His chest rose up.

The plane was still on its way down. The crew was unbuckled as well, but they urged everyone besides the medical team to stay seated.

"Again!" the doctor told the nurse. She charged the defibrillator again as Snake continued CPR. "Clear!" the doctor yelled. Wolf held his breath as Alex's body surged up, guided by the electricity that was shooting through him.

"Please let him live," Wolf prayed. "That's all I need. Just let him come back to us."

He watched the heart monitor, waiting for it to spike.

_Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep _

_beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep_


	10. Chapter 10

Wolf was relieved. Alex had started breathing again and his rhythm had came back. The doctor quickly checked him out.

"He's fine for now," he announced. But Wolf didn't like the worried looks the medical team shared. The plane started its proper descend. The medical team strapped in next to Alex.

After landing, Alex was immediately wheeled outside. An ambulance was waiting for him. Snake again hopped in the ambulance as it tore away with screeching tires.

A couple of hours later, the rest of the unit, accompanied by Ben Daniels, arrived at the hospital. Snake was nowhere to be seen. He'd been allowed in the operating room as the doctors patched Alex up.

A nurse saw them come in and immediately knew who they were.

"He's still in surgery," she said, "but we've already reserved him a suite on the ICU. We have a VIP suite there. It's been prepped for him."

Wolf was taken aback. He hadn't expected Alex to be allowed in a VIP suite.

"This is the CIA," Daniels whispered. "Alex has saved a lot of people in the past. It was about time they did something for him, for once."

It made sense.

The soldiers had to wait for a couple of hours. They lounged around the waiting room, anxiously waiting for news. Eventually a doctor walked towards them.

"Ben Daniels?" she asked.

Ben rose from his seat, simultaneously with Wolf.

"That's me," he said. The other soldiers looked on as the doctor glanced between him and Wolf.

She decided to ignore Wolf for now.

"Okay… My name is Doctor Moore. I will be Alex's primary physician during his stay at the hospital. The surgery went well. Alex lost a lot of blood and had several serious injuries. But he'll pull through. We're keeping him sedated for now. His body needs to rest. He's been through a lot," she said. Her eyes held a thousand questions, but she kept them to herself.

"Can you… can you tell us the extent of his injuries?" Wolf asked.

The doctor nodded.

"Yes. Let's move somewhere else for that conversation, shall we?" she suggested.

The unit followed the doctor to the VIP suite. Through the glass window, they saw Alex lying on the hospital bed, eyes closed and fast asleep.

"Man, I hate how young he looks when he's sleeping. It scares the hell out of me," Eagle commented.

"He always looks this young," Wolf replied.

"No, he doesn't," Ben butted in. "Not since that first mission has he looked his own age. You just can't see it because you live with him."

The doctor looked at Wolf.

"You live with him?" she inquired.

Wolf nodded.

"Yes, I'm his protection detail back home," he said.

"He's also dating the kid's guardian, so…" Eagle added.

The doctor nodded, suddenly understanding the captain's eagerness to know everything about the teenager's status.

"Alright, well. Let's get to it," she continued the conversation. "Alex sustained multiple life-threatening injuries. Not in the least, the bullet wound."

"Yes, we were right outside the door when that guy shot him," Wolf commented.

The doctor looked at him.

"Yes, that bullet wound was also threatening, but it was minor in comparison with the other one," she replied.

The soldiers looked at eachother.

"Other bullet wound?" Bear asked. "When did that happen?"

"A few weeks ago. The tissue has started to heal, but it was heavily infected. For a minute, we thought he'd lose the leg."

Wolf swallowed.

"Did he…?"

The doctor immediately shook her head.

"No, we managed to save it. The truth is, he is a very strong young man. His youth helps him, but the road to recovery will be long and painful. He had several broken ribs, the two bullet wounds of which one was infected, burns along his back and a lot of scarring all over his body. But he'll recover from all of those wounds, hopefully.

I am worried about his mental state when he wakes up, though. His mental scars will be far more prominent than the physical injuries he sustained."

She sighed, looking at Alex again.

"He's very young. He shouldn't have to deal with any of this."

The doctor didn't know what he did for a living. She had bits and pieces, but all of it was handled in secrecy.

"We couldn't agree more, doctor. Thank you for taking care of our boy," Ben said. The doctor nodded and left.

The soldiers guarded that hospital room for the rest of the night. Wolf sat inside with Alex, while the rest of his unit stood guard outside the room. After all, the cartel's reach was far and wide. They were all eager to get Alex back on British soil, where the cartel hadn't reached so far.

Early in the morning, Alex woke up from the deep slumber. The doctor had warned Wolf that he might be hostile. He was waking up in a strange environment, and presumably the last time he did so, he was tortured.

Wolf sat at his side when he opened his eyes. The machine registering his heartbeat was beeping faster, indicating that Alex was in distress.

"Alex. It's Wolf. I'm here, you're safe. Alex, can you hear me? You're safe," Wolf repeated.

Suddenly, Alex shot up, pushing himself against the wall. The heartmonitor went through the roof. Alex's eyes darted from one side to the other. Wolf could tell that Alex didn't see him. The doctor ran into the room, followed by a couple of nurses.

"Alex!" Wolf shouted. He was standing next to the bed now, trying to calm Alex down.

"Alex, calm down!"

Finally, Alex seemed to see Wolf. His heartrate slowed down and his eyes softened a bit. Wolf could see tears pooling in them. Alex finally realized that he was in a hospital, that he was alive and safe. That realization brought something else as well.

"Fucking hell," he grunted softly.

"What's wrong?" Wolf asked concerned.

"What's wrong?" Alex repeated.

His hand moved to his shoulder.

"That's the second time I got shot," Alex exclaimed, his voice hoarse.

Wolf coughed.

"Technically, it's the third," he said, eyebrows raised, nodding his head at Alex's leg.

Alex looked at the leg.

"Oh yeah, forgot about that one," he said.

Wolf shook his head.

"Only you," was all he said to that comment.

Alex finally noticed the doctor and her entourage in the room. The doctor smiled at him and walked closer. Alex slid back down on the bed, making himself more comfortable. Wolf handed him a cup of water. After eyeing the water for a second, he tentatively took a sip.

"You have incredible reflexes, young man," the doctor commented.

"My name is Doctor Moore. Nice to meet you, Alex," she said.

Alex didn't reply, but he nodded his head. He eyed all of the people in his room suspiciously. The doctor noticed the movement and told the nurses to leave the room. This left only Wolf and Dr. Moore with Alex.

"Alex, I understand that you have been through a lot these past few weeks. I know that you, and your merry band of soldiers here, are eager to return to England. Unfortunately, it will take a couple of days before you are cleared to fly. In the meantime, you will stay here. For the next few days, we'd like to keep you on bedrest. Your body needs to recharge, and I think you as well. After that, we'll start with some PT and counselling. Sound good?" she asked.

Alex nodded.

"Thank you, doctor," he said.

He leaned back on the bed.

"We'll administer you some more pain medication, and a sedative to help you sleep some more," Dr. Moore added. She'd noticed how Alex had winced in pain when he moved. She summoned a nurse back to his room. The nurse took out a syringe. Alex flinched at the sight of it.

"It's okay, Alex," the doctor said. Alex eyed the syringe the entire time, watching the nurse put the sedative in the bag attached to his arm. He felt his eyes droop.

"I'll be here when you wake up, Alex," promised Wolf.

"I know," Alex whispered, before dropping into unconsciousness.

Wolf made use of the time he had now to make a call, one he'd been itching to make since they'd found Alex hanging from those chains all those hours ago.

"Luke? Please tell me you found him? Oh my god, is he alive? Is he okay?"

Jack's voice cracked through the speaker of his phone.

"Jack, calm down. He's safe. He's…" This was harder than Wolf thought it would be. "He's not okay. But he's out of surgery and it's looking good. He'll pull through, you know Alex. He's a stubborn bastard. I just talked to him. It'll take some time, but I believe he'll find his way back to his old self."

Jack exhaled in relief.

"Oh my god, thank you, thank you!" She was crying now.

"We're in San Antonio. He's going to have to stay here for a while," Wolf said.

"I'm booking a flight as we speak. I will be there tomorrow," she said. Wolf smiled. Ofcourse. No one could hold that woman in the UK when her charge was in a hospital on the other side of the world. Because as much as Alex was Cub in the army, he was even more so at home. And the lioness was coming to protect him.

"I love you. Call me when you land, I'll pick you up," Wolf said.

"I will. But we're taking him home with us. He'll want to recover in a place he knows," she added.

Wolf smiled.

"I think I know just the place."

**The end.**

**Not really, though. This is the final chapter for the second part. I have a couple of chapters written for the next part of Alex's story. I'm still sorting everything out, and I'm about to leave on holiday. So expect me to write a lot in the next couple of weeks, and I'll probably start posting the new story near the end of July. See you then, and for those with summer holidays, enjoy them!**


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